Felix Hnat (born 15 July 1982) is an Austrian animal rights activist and chairman of the Vegan Society Austria (Vegane Gesellschaft Österreich, VGÖ). Hnat was the second defendant alongside Martin Balluch in the controversial 2010–2011 animal rights activist trial at Wiener Neustadt, where he was eventually acquitted of all charges.Der Standard online: Tierschützer nicht rechtskraeftig freigesprochen 2 May 2011 (german)Österreich 1 evening journal: Tierschützerprozess zu Ende: Freispruch 27 May 2014 (german)
Life Felix Hnat studied economics at Vienna University of Economics. He graduated in 2006 with his thesis on "Agricultural subsidies in Austria under an animal-rights perspective".Hnat, Felix: Agricultural subsidies in Austria under an animal-rights perspective Vienna University of Economics 2006 He had to stop his doctorate of economic sociology because of the animal rights activist trial.Article in "Vienna online": Tierschützer-Prozess in Wr Neustadt geht weiter: Anwälte optimistisch 8 May 2014 (german)
Animal rights and vegan advocacy
Felix Hnat's first involvement in the animal rights movement started as an activist at the Association against Animal Factories (Verein gegen Tierfabriken, VGT) in Austria. His protests against fur trade and especially contacting fashion houses like Kleiderbauer led to his involvement in the animal rights activist trial.derprozess.com: "The Trial" Documentary on the Austrian animal rights activist trial – Main Protagonists
After the first non-final decision of acquittal Hnat worked a year in Berlin as project manager for the environmental protection project GV-nachhaltig, where he advised commercial kitchens.gv-nachhaltig.de , official project page of GV-nachhaltig (german)
Since 2005 Felix Hnat is chairman of the Vegan Society Austria (Vegane Gesellschaft Österreich, VGÖ), where he is additionally responsible for public relations.Vegan Society Austria – The Team Official website of the Vegan Society Austria (german) He is also vice president of the European Vegetarian Union. As chairman of the Vegan Society Austria he is involved in the organization of various events: The Veganmania summer festival in Vienna,Der Kurier online: Veganmania Das Festival der Veganer 4 June 2015 (german) the Veggie Planet exhibits,Salzburger Nachrichten online: Veggie Planet – Ganz ohne Fleisch geht es auch 18 March 2013 (german) the Vegan Planet exhibition in ViennaHeute online: Vegan Planet – Wien wird veganes Zentrum Europas 23 November 2015 (german) and the Vienna Vegan Ball.ORF online: Bereits vierter Vegan Ball in Wien 6 February 2016 (german)
In his function as spokesperson of the vegan community, Hnat held lectures at the International Management Forum in Lindau (Germany),HGV Praxis – Journal of Austrian hotel industry and large-scale catering online: 22. IMF nahm die GV ins Visier 14 June 2012 (german) the colloquium on bakery of the Austrian Association of the Baking Industry (Vereinigung der Backbranche),backwelt.de VDB Österreich lädt nach Schladming 15 May 2015 (german) the conference of the Austrian catering industryOfficial VGÖ website: Vegan focus on the industry conference of the Austrian joint Board 26 August 2015 (german) and an event at the European ParliamentOfficial VGÖ website: Vegan Society at the European Parliament 15 December 2015 (german) that was followed by a screening of the movie Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret.
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